Smile
by Confiscated Retina
Summary: All Trigger Happy wants is to see Hex smile.


A/N: Dedicated to A7xsparx over on deviantART, whose awesome, adorable art and great conversation inspired this whole thing. :)

* * *

**Smile**

"She's always so grim."

All Trigger Happy wanted...

"I mean, I know she's undead."

...was to see Hex smile.

"But it's not like everyone else is!"

He's tried everything: his best jokes, playing (mostly) harmless pranks on some of the other Skylanders, and doing his best stumpy-legged jig. He even jumped in the way of a froofy beautifying spell aimed at Hugo's messy bedroom (it took days to untie all the frilly pink lace ribbons that had tangled themselves into his orange fur). Not even the faintest quiver of the undead sorceress' lips or a single sparkle in her glowing eyes.

"The world is so bright and fun! I don't understand how she can be so serious all the time!"

Ghost Roaster was one of many who was starting to feel a bit concerned for his fuzzy friend. The gun slinging gremlin was, at least to the undead chef's mind, becoming obsessed. The pranks were starting to get out of hand, too. He didn't think Master Eon's kitchen could survive another "comedy cookie cutter cook-off" incident, which was personally why he was hiding in the bushes with Trigger Happy, holding his rattling chain in skeletal fingers to keep it quiet.

"Oh, here she comes!" Trigger Happy's fur bristled with excitement. "Are you ready?"

"I guess I-" Ghost Roaster didn't have time to reply before he was forcefully shoved out into the open.

At the distinct rattle of his chain, Hex's stiff-backed posture grew even stiffer and her quick, determined pace sped up. The skeletal Skylander rushed to catch up with her, the spiked ball at the end of his chain bouncing and dragging through the grass behind him. He came to a puffing halt in front of the sorceress (he'd long since stopped needing to breathe but old habits, so to speak, die hard).

"Er, hello Hex," he said, the perpetual grin on his face earnest.

She folded her arms across her black-clad chest. "Olav."

"Um..." he scratched his bare skull with a claw-tipped hand. "Nice weather we're having today, isn't it?"

Glowing eyes narrowed suspiciously. Hex and Ghost Roaster had gotten off to a bad start, what with the ghoulish chef trying to devour her metaphysical person on the occasion of their first meeting. He'd been new to the business of being a heroic Skylander and it was really all a terrible misunderstanding, but Hex took it to unbeating heart and had been coldly formal toward him since. Ghost Roaster didn't hold it against her and they mutually tried to stay out of each other's way unless it was unavoidable. This was technically avoidable, but Ghost Roaster didn't want any further memories of half-baked cookie dough dripping from rafters haunting his mind.

"Is there something you need?" Hex's voice was colder than an outdoor bench in the Empire of Ice.

"Uh..."

"Get back, ghoulish fiend!" an accented voice shouted from the bushes.

A gold coin bounced off Ghost Roaster's shoulder.

"Ow!" he cried and scooted away from the sorceress as another coin plinked off his boney arm.

Hex raised an eyebrow. Trigger Happy gallantly leapt from his hiding place, golden guns flashing in the sun, tongue lolling and a hopeful grin on his fuzzy face.

"I said back, knave!" the guns fired again, two coins hitting Ghost Roaster's hunched back.

"Ouch! You said this wouldn't hurt!" he squawked in dismay. "And what on earth is a knave?!"

A coin hit the unfortunate ghoul right between the eyes, making him wobble on his chain. Trigger Happy advanced and Ghost Roaster slithered away, trying to dodge an increasing volley of golden ammunition. Hex watched the duo run in circles with her usual stoic expression, Trigger Happy shouting gleeful insults while Ghost Roaster's pleas for mercy became increasingly insistent. Overhead the sky began to darken.

Thick, ominous clouds gathered, thunder growling in their midst. Hex glanced up in time to see a rainbow arc straight toward the ground. She used a puff of magic to lift herself from the earth as a blue figure landed between Trigger Happy and Ghost Roaster, a halo of rainbow power radiating out from her. The ghoul and the gremlin were both sent tumbling by the shock wave as thunder boomed.

"No one," Whirlwind snarled, advancing on the downed Trigger Happy, "hurts MY ball and chain!"

Trigger Happy's ears drooped, eyes going wide as all joy drained from his face. "Uh oh."

He was too preoccupied to catch sight of the faint smirk that crossed Hex's blue lips when Whirlwind launched herself at him.

* * *

One broken gun, several patches of missing fur, a sprained ankle, and a stomach full of enough coins to buy a weapons upgrade later, Trigger Happy was lying miserably in a bed in the infirmary. Ghost Roaster did eventually manage to explain things to Whirlwind and all parties were hopeful that she would forgive the gremlin sometime before the islands fell out of the sky. He stared at the ceiling and wondered if it was possible to get gold poisoning.

A cold shadow fell over him and he jumped. Somehow, Hex was even more dour than usual.

"Uh, hi," his weak smile even felt broken.

"You are nothing if not determined," she said, arms crossed.

"...Thanks?"

"It is getting wearisome."

"I'm really sorry," Trigger Happy began. "I didn't mean for things to get so out of hand-"

She held up a black-tipped finger for silence. "Whenever you can walk again, come to the courtyard forest in Master Eon's library near sunset. Make sure you are not seen or heard."

He opened his mouth to ask a question, but Hex was already gone, a faint chill in her wake.

* * *

The sun setting through the trees bathed a small garden in rich golden light. Trigger Happy was once again crouched in some bushes, this time alone and with bandages scattered over his person like patches of snow on a mossy orange hillside. Stealth Elf had been patiently, silently roaming about the garden, spade in one work-glove covered hand, for at least ten minutes.

A touch of graveside chill drifted through the air and, though her face was still covered, Trigger Happy could tell Stealth Elf was smiling at Hex's approach. The sorceress arrived with a bag of eco-friendly fertilizer in her clawed hands and a garish straw hat on her head.

"Right on time," Stealth Elf said in her quiet voice.

Trigger Happy strained his ears to listen to their conversation as the two ladies knelt in the dirt and begin their work. He couldn't make out much of their whispery, soft voices over the sounds of rustling leaves and birds settling for the day. He gave up and simply watched a most unexpected and peaceful scene unfold before him: two stoic warriors kneeling, shoulder to shoulder, digging in the dirt and planting flowers.

And then, subtle as a spring breeze, he saw it. As Stealth Elf bent to carefully place a lilac-petaled flower in a new patch of earth, a gentle smile spread over Hex's ghost-pale face. Her eyes were full of joy as she gazed at the elf's vivid blue hair and pointed green ears. The last time he'd seen a look of such genuine, happy contentment had been when he caught Cynder gazing after the trail of golden sparkles left by Spyro's dragonfly friend when she thought nobody was watching.

Carefully and quietly, Trigger Happy slipped away to leave the two gardeners in peace, an unnoticed grin on his face.

**End.**


End file.
